I am so glad I got to spend yesterday with 'ffistas. Meeting Shir was a real treat. It was fun seeing her reactions to everything and getting to chit-chat as we wandered around the city. We did some sightseeing (the Bean and the art institute), some shopping (books and chocolates to die for), walked for miles, rode trains when we got tired, and ate a lot of very good food. Yummy vegetarian brunch at the Chicago Diner (cinnamon French toast FTW.) Kudos to the Farmhouse; it was everything it was cracked up to be. My meal of grilled trout was excellently prepared and the craft beer I tried, a chocolate stout called Dino S'mores, was absolutely one of the very best stouts I've ever imbibed. Wish I could have stayed overnight to spend another day, but the cat was so happy to have me come home to force pills down his throat and squirt antibiotics in his ear. Yeah, right.
Thanks for making it such a great day Shir, dcp, tommyrot, shrift and brenda!
Pix, I'd invite you to Cincinnati (about a 4-hour drive from Kent), but a) far and b) I'll be in Washington DC that weekend.
And I'll be at the beach that weekend. Boo.
I think we're going to try getting a table at Uncommon Ground around 3pm after King Lear.
Yep, and I won't have a car. Sigh.
Chicago F2F pictures: [link]
brenda, shrift, tommyrot, Shir, Sailaweigh, aurelia -- thank you all for the company, the conversation, the food, the transportation, and the entertainment. I had a most excellent time.
Looks like a fun time at the Museum! A couple of my fav paintings in there!
So
that's
what you were doing while I was taking pictures of Shir by The Bean.
Nice pictures!
Nice shirt, tommyrot.
Thanks. I had just been complaining how no one knows what the shirt is about. No non-Buffistas, anyway.
Oh, Buffistas. I had such a lovely time in Chicago, with tommyrot, shrift, aurelia, dcp, Sail, and of course, brenda, who was a wonderful host (and her dog, being so patient with me taking over her room). I loved the art, hanging around, the food, and play, and most of all - just being with Buffistas. I had the best of times.
I'm now at O'hare with ~4 hours to burn before my flight (come say hi if you want), so I have time to rethink and wrap it up.
I don't have enough words to thank you for your generosity, hospitality, guidance, patience, humor, as well as feeding me, and showing me around. That sneaky, simple "I'm going to see my friends" notion I had in mind is far from being simple or taken for granted, especially when all of the people I saw on this trip were online friends. You were all wonderful and fun to meet face to face. I had so many moments of “woah. You’re not pixels”, and it turns out I imagined so many of your quite differently than how you look/ sound like in real life. I feel so incredibly lucky to have you in my life, and for the opportunity to have this trip between my jobs. I also feels like I’ve had enough rest, despite losing many hours of sleep on my way here. A huge chunk of me is missing Jerusalem, but I can't help but feeling sad to leave - I leave so many friends behind.
I’d like to thank again to meara, Gar, Kristin, Drew, BC, kat, Epic, Nora, smonster, another Nora, tommyrot, shrift, aurelia, dcp, Sail, brenda, and all the people you introduced me to as well (if I forgot anybody, I'm so very sorry). All of you, as well as all Buffista people, will be welcome in Jerusalem in any time. Thank you all for being you.
Next time, it’ll be the East Coast tour. I promise.
love and gratitude
